Community First Bancorporation, parent company for Community First Bank,, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022.
Article continues below
Total consolidated earnings of $6,436,000 were recorded for the year ended December 31, 2022, which represented a 77.8% increase over total consolidated earnings for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Earnings per common share ("EPS") were $1.14, an increase of 80.9% over EPS of $0.63 per common share in 2021.
The increase included a gain on the sale of the Company's mortgage subsidiary, SeaTrust Mortgage Company ("STM").
The Company's total consolidated earnings were $1,206,000 for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $939,000 recorded for the fourth quarter of 2021. EPS for the fourth quarter of 2022 totaled $0.21 compared to $0.16 for the fourth quarter of 2021.
During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company's net interest margin expanded to 4.00%, an increase of 72 basis points compared to the net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2021 of 3.28%.
The change in overall interest rates was the primary driver of the increase.
Net interest income grew by 18.4% in 2022 compared to 2021. The year-over-year increase was primarily driven by changes in interest rates. However, the sale of STM also impacted volumes in the year-over-year comparison.
Average gross loans grew $20,680,000, or 4.5%, in 2022 compared to 2021. Overall loan yields for 2022 were 4.82% compared to 4.69% in 2021.
The yield on investments was 2.15% in 2022 compared to 1.71% in 2021.
Noninterest income for 2022 totaled $10,934,000 compared to $13,388,000 in 2021. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in the volume of loans originated and sold by STM and the sale of STM in May 2022.
The Company recognized a gain of $2,293,000 ($1,743,000 net of tax) on the sale of STM.
The Bank's in-house origination and servicing of loans sold in the secondary market also declined throughout 2022 due to increases in market interest rates. Noninterest income from mortgage banking activities totaled approximately $9.7 million in 2021 compared to $4.9 million in 2022.
The overall decline in noninterest income was offset by increases in gains on sales of SBA loans, interchange income, service charges on deposits, and other income. Gains on sales of SBA loans were $653,000 in 2022 compared to $485,000 in 2021.
Noninterest expense decreased to $25,497,000 in 2022 from $28,147,000 in 2021.
The primary drivers were decreases in salaries, benefits and other costs of mortgage banking activities and merger-related expenses. Loan and other real estate owned- related costs declined in 2022 by 30.8% and 76.2%, respectively.
The decreases were partially offset by increases in insurance expense, goodwill amortization, employee educational expenses and various other expenses.
Expenses related to the 2021 acquisition of Security Federal Bank totaled $934,000 in 2021. ■